from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Sometimes, a free market doesn't create a thriving bazaar of competition. Occasionally, huge monopolies form, and the result is less competition (and sometimes less innovation). Maybe it doesn't matter if you own Mediterranean and Baltic Avenue, but it could if you have Park Place and Boardwalk. Here are a few examples of monopolies you might run into someday.

from the drunk-moron-in-a-hurry? dept

Ryan points us to the news that beer giant Anheuser-Busch InBev is apparently in the process of trying to trademark various area codes across the country. A few months back AB bought Goose Island, a craft brewer who made a beer called 312... after the local area code in Chicago. Apparently AB liked the idea so much that it's seeking trademarks elsewhere, which (one assumes) it will try to use to offer local beers. Of course, with an operation like AB, you wonder if it won't just package up the same beer for each location...